NHL EDGE stats: Slavin reaches top skating speed by defenseman this season

NHL.com’s fantasy staff continues to cover the latest trends and storylines in the League through the lens of NHL EDGE puck and player tracker stats. Today, we look at the top skating speed of Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin.

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Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin reached the top skating speed at the position this season at 24.19 miles per hour in their 6-4 win against the Dallas Stars on Monday.

Per NHL EDGE stats, it was the second-fastest max skating speed reached by any skater League-wide this season trailing only the 24.20 mph mark by Nashville Predators forward Steven Stamkos (reached in overtime at Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 11).

With 6:53 left in the second period, after sending a backhanded shot on goal from the right wing that was stopped by Stars goalie Jake Oettinger, Slavin came around the opposing net and skated back to his own defensive zone at that high speed to catch up to forward Roope Hintz and break up Dallas’ scoring chance off the rush.

Slavin’s mark is the fastest by a Hurricanes skater in the puck and player tracking era (since 2021-22), eclipsing the previous mark held by forward Martin Necas (23.95 miles per hour against Arizona Coyotes on Oct. 31, 2021).

The Hurricanes, who were trailing 3-1 at the time, would eventually complete their second multigoal third period comeback win of the season (other: Oct. 22 against Edmonton Oilers) to join the Philadelphia Flyers as the only teams with multiple such victories in the NHL this season. Carolina has an eight-game home winning streak.

Slavin, who had an assist and a season-high four shots on goal in 22:40 on Monday, gives the Hurricanes 36 speed bursts of at least 22 miles per hour, the third most of any team trailing only the Avalanche (53) and Oilers (45); Carolina ranked 10th in that category last season (88).

Carolina has the second-best points percentage (.738) in the NHL behind the Winnipeg Jets (.818) entering Tuesday and continues to dominate 5-on-5 puck possession. Per NHL EDGE stats, the Hurricanes have the best offensive zone time percentage at even strength (47.2 percent); the Avalanche rank second at 44.0 percent. Carolina also has the League’s best shot attempts percentage at 5-on-5 (60.4 percent); the Oilers rank second at 55.2 percent.

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